The present invention relates to three-dimensional (3D) video or television, and more specifically to a lenticular 3D display wherein 3D scenes are viewed through a lenticular layer.
Even though lenticular 3D photography has become a reality where consumers can take 3D pictures with multi-lens camera, quality lenticular 3D television where a stationary or moving scene with depth can be viewed without using special glasses is still not available. McLaurin et al (U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,024) discloses a method of producing a depth effect on a monitor. This disclosed method involves using a single camera mounted on a platform moving at the constant velocity and spacing to take a sequence of 2D images; and presenting the 2D images in a stereoscopically related sequence on a video monitor for viewing. Beard (U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,898) discloses a method of using a pair of viewing glasses in which one lens is darker than the other for viewing a moving scene displayed on a monitor screen. These two disclosed methods display only one 2D view at a time and both of the viewer's eyes see the same view at any time. These methods are different from a lenticular 3D photograph where a plurality of different 2D views of a view are simultaneously displayed so that, through a lenticular layer, each of the viewer's eyes sees a different view.
Nims et al (U.S. Pat. No. 3,814,513) discloses a 3D projection system which uses two lenticular screens, one for viewing and one for composing, and a light diffusing sheet to form a projection screen. The composing screen is vibrating harmonically so that the compressed line-form images at its backside fill the blank spacing between line-form images. Marraud et al (U.S. Pat. No. 4,506,296) discloses a method of making lenticular print, which involves composing a composite image on a cathoscope; photographing the composite image through an anamorphosis device; and overlaying a lenticular grating on the photograph. None of the above-mentioned disclosed methods addresses the issue of directly applying a lenticular layer on the surface of the cathode ray tube (CRT) screen for viewing a 3D scene.
Lenticular technique has not been successfully applied to television or video mainly due to the fact that most monitor screens are curved outwardly and the CRT is rather thick and the thickness may be uneven. Furthermore, the width of the lenticules must vary with the size of the monitor screen, the video line resolution, the number of 2D views to be simultaneously displayed, and the thickness of the CRT. This is in contrast to lenticular 3D photography where the width of the lenticules is not determined by the number of 2D views or the size of the photograph.